


oo la love, i've fallen in love

by fairylightsandrainydays



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Happy Valentine's Day from rainy, M/M, Minor Luke/Julie, Seven Minutes In Heaven Game, Sleepovers, Teenagers playing teenager games, Valentine's Day Fluff, tell your friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29423958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairylightsandrainydays/pseuds/fairylightsandrainydays
Summary: Willie doesn’t know what he’s expecting when he shows up at the Molinas for the sleepover Julie’s been planning for weeks, but it definitely isn’t a game of Seven Minutes in Heaven with his crush.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 7
Kudos: 108





	oo la love, i've fallen in love

It’s three thirty when he gets fed up with the notifications constantly stopping his music.

His phone buzzes against his leg over and over again until he grumbles and pulls it out. He really needs to disable notifications for his groupchat.

**just some normal dead dudes and jules**

**jules:** HEY WILLIE

**jules:** WILLIE

**jules:** W I L L I E

**jules:** SLEEPOVER

**jules:** TONIGHT

**jules:** MY GARAGE

**jules:** YOU BETTER NOT HAVE FORGOTTEN AND MADE PLANS WITH SOME LESS AWESOME FRIEND GROUP

**jules:** BE THERE OR BE HETERO

He types out a message and hits send ( **willie wilbur williamson:** oh shit i better show up huh) and throws his phone down next to him. Dramatic, sure, but he’s a dramatic boy.

He’s lying on his back in an otherwise empty hotel room, his board leaning against the wall, Hozier playing softly from his phone speakers. If you asked them, he wouldn’t be able to tell you why he’s able to even  _ have  _ a phone, but maybe that’s just one of the great mysteries of being a ghost.

The thing about Willie is this: he  _ loves  _ breaking the rules, especially when it involves impressing a boy. Namely, one Alexander Mercer, a ghost he’d skated into only a few months ago, but who had completely taken over his stupid little heart. (Figurative, of course, since he’s not sure whether he even  _ has  _ a heart at this point). 

So he figured that breaking into the Four Seasons in LA would make for  _ quite  _ the interesting story to tell at the sleepover tonight.

He knows it’s a  _ little  _ childish, but he really  _ is  _ excited for the sleepover. Julie’s been talking about having one for weeks now, and today’s the day she decided on to have it. It took a little time to figure out how to make food the guys could eat, because according to Reggie, “a sleepover is not a sleepover without snacks. I won’t show up if we don’t have snacks.” (To which Luke had replied, “Reg. Dude. We literally  _ live  _ in the place that we’re going to have this thing.”)

So it took them a little while to figure that out; once they had, they were good to go!

And Willie’s excited.

Yup.

Definitely  _ only  _ excited.

Definitely  _ not  _ low-key freaking out about it because Julie knows about his crush on Alex and she’s almost definitely going to make them play a game that will somehow put Alex and Willie into an awkward romantic situation in which Willie will confess his feelings for some reason and then Alex will turn him down because Willie is way too uncool for him.

Or something.

Yup,  _ only  _ excited!

The thing is, the pair of them have been in this weird limbo dancing around each other thing where Willie isn’t sure whether they’re dating, or friends, or even if Alex likes him or not. They hang out a lot, probably mostly because Willie invites Alex on random adventures in the city like all the time, and Willie’s been playfully flirting with Alex for  _ months _ , but the other boy is just the oblivious dumbass who keeps Sunset Curve’s only brain cell zipped in his fanny pack next to his inhaler. (He says Sunset Curve because Julie owns the brain cell for Julie and the Phantoms).

Only excited.

It’s four o’clock when he skates to the department store. He has to be at the sleepover by five thirty or Julie will “steal his kneecaps”. (Her words, not his).

He’s looking for a simple black knee-length skirt that’ll look excellent with a white crop top with a sun decal that he has at an empty house on Melrose avenue, where he stores most of his stuff. 

He finds his prize relatively quickly, hiding amongst about fifty others. He takes it off the rack and poofs to the house. (It’s not stealing if you don’t get caught, and cops have always been his enemies. Ask anyone he knows.) (Besides, it’s a department store. They kind of deserve it.)

He’s only started wearing skirts more recently. The first time he wore one, he remembers feeling so  _ happy _ about it. Sure, pants are great and probably easiest to skate in (depending on the length of the skirt, it’s  _ not  _ a good idea to skate in one), but  _ skirts _ , dude.

It’s almost a giant  _ fuck you  _ to everyone who told him  _ cut your hair, William, you look like a girl, stop oogling the boys at recess, you’re acting so  _ gay.

Because look where he is now: a long haired boy rocking skirts with a big fat GAY crush on a drummer boy.

So  _ ha _ , Ms. Henley from church.

He pulls the shirt over his head, the skirt on, and a pair of blue socks with cherries on them over his feet, lacing up his high-tops over them. His key necklace, as it always is, is slung around his neck. As a final touch, he puts a small Calcifer stud that he picked up from Hot Topic the last time he was there in his right ear. (He’s a nerd, sue him.)

And if he’s being completely honest with himself, he looks  _ damn  _ good.

It’s five fifteen when he tugs the Downslide jacket on (for October in LA, it’s  _ cold _ ), puts Hozier back on and slips earbuds in his ears, favouring skating to Julie’s over poofing. He clips his cracked helmet on his head, drops his board, and he’s off, skating down Melrose toward Virgil avenue.

It’s a relatively straight shot to Julie’s, only about fifteen minutes by board, only a few turns. He skates through a couple people, making his usual quips about those on their phones (Jesus, there are a lot of them).

He’s midway through  _ Like Real People Do  _ (“I knew that look, dear, eyes always seeking”) when he gets to Julie’s garage, and the sound of the band laughing and talking cuts through his music. He pulls out his earbuds, pausing the song.

It’s five twenty five when he walks through the door.

“Hey, dudes!” is the first thing he says.

His eyes find Alex immediately, lying on his back on the futon, spinning a drumstick idly in his hand, arguing with Luke.

“Willie! Yes!” Julie crows, and Alex’s eyes snap to him. He thinks he sees a little red come to the other boy’s cheeks, but he can’t be sure, because Julie tackles him in a hug.

He laughs out loud, dropping his board and hugging her back. He’s still getting somewhat used to this whole a-lifer-can-touch-and-see-me thing, but at this point, he’ll take as many hugs as he can get.

He didn’t get a lot back at the club.

But that was then, and this is now, and Julie’s arms are wrapped so tight around him, he thinks his ribs are gonna crack.

“Woah, Jules, I need to breathe over here.” 

The girl giggles and lets him go, stepping back only a few feet to give him a once-over. She whistles. “You look-”

“Good.” says Alex, and Willie looks at him, and he’s sitting up and staring at Willie. “You look really good, Willie.”

Willie avoids Alex’s gaze, shifting his eyes from Alex, staring at him, to Julie, giving him a smirk, to Luke and Reggie, poking each other on the floor.

He clears his throat. “Uh, thanks, ‘Lex.”

He doesn’t know where the nickname comes from, but it slips out of his mouth and Alex drops his gaze, red coming to his cheeks.

“ANYWAY,” says Julie suddenly, clapping her hands together. “Now that we are all in assembly, the sleepover can commence!”

“Oh, Julie!” Reggie says, raising his hand. “Can I get the food?” 

“Yes, Reg, you can get the food.”

“Woo-hoo!” 

Reggie poofs out, probably headed for the Molina’s kitchen to pick up snacks.

Alex stands up. “I’m gonna go help him. There’s definitely too much food for only him to carry.” he looks like he’s about to poof out, but Julie stretches out an arm to stop him. “Oh, no, Luke can do that. Right, Luke?”

Upon hearing his name, Luke glances up from where he’s scribbling in his notebook, the poking abandoned when Reggie poofed out. “Oh, yeah, totally.” 

He, too, poofs out, and Julie smiles at Willie. “Take your helmet off, stay awhile. It may shock you, but we don’t bite.”

“Ha ha, very funny, I’ve known you for six months.” he says, unclipping his helmet and shaking out his hair.

“I’m gonna go get some games, okay? Back in a minute!” says Julie gleefully, and Willie immediately sees what she’s doing, and mentally curses her.

She opens the garage door, slips out, and leaves it open behind her, leaving Willie and Alex alone. Willie takes a moment to really appreciate Alex.

The taller boy is wearing his signature pink hoodie over a pair of cargo shorts, and (Willie can’t figure out if this is embarrassing or not) the  _ exact  _ same socks as Willie.

Willie grins, taking the not-embarrassing route, kicking off his shoes. “Dude, look! We’re matching!” he wiggles his toes at Alex, who grins back. “Haha, yeah!”

Willie realises he’s still awkwardly standing in front of the door, and moves away from it, pulling off his jacket and dropping it in a corner. He tucks his hair behind his ears, and Alex points to his right one. “That’s from that movie,  _ Howl’s Moving Castle _ , right?”

Willie grins. “Heck yes! You remembered! I’m proud of you, I’ll make a nerd out of you yet!” he moves closer to Alex, who studies his ear. “Where’d you get it?”

“Hot Topic, it’s basically a magnet for nerdy emo gays, and though I am only two of those things, I love it.”

Alex nods. “And the skirt? It looks new. You didn’t steal it, did you?”

Willie feigns a guilty look. “I thought it wasn’t stealing if you don’t get caught!”

Alex shakes his head. “That’s not… okay.” he says, a look coming to his face that would be the I’m-dating-a-fool face (Willie sees it a lot on Julie when Luke’s being a moron) if he were actually dating Willie.

He just goes with “I’m friends with a fool”.

Alex clears his throat. “I… uh… I wasn’t kidding, you know. About you looking good. You do. Look good.”

Willie can feel his cheeks warming, and he looks down, playing with the hem of his skirt. “I… thanks. You… uh… you look good too.”

They stand in awkward silence.

“I got PIZZA, you guys!” comes Reggie’s shout, poofing to the middle of the room holding three pizza boxes. “And I have EVERYTHING ELSE!” comes Luke right after, poofing next to Reggie holding bags of candy, chips, and a few bottles of soda in his arms.

Willie turns, stares. “How many of us did Julie think there  _ were _ ?” he feels Alex clap him on the shoulder. “No, dude, at least  _ one  _ of those pizzas is for Reggie.” (“Hey!”)

“And Luke,” he says, looking at the boy, “you should be on that show Julie was talking about - America’s Got Talent, but you can just walk across the stage holding all those snacks, not dropping any.”

Willie snickers, and Luke joins in. “It’s all my practise carrying laundry.”

“I HAVE MONOPOLY!” shouts Julie, opening the door to the garage, holding a box, most likely the aforementioned Monopoly, under one arm.

“Aww,  _ yes! _ ” Luke crows. “I  _ rock  _ at this game!” 

Willie turns to him. “Oh really? Well, prepare to go down in flames, because I, too, rock at Monopoly.”

The two stare at each other (Willie can’t tell if it’s a silent staring contest or not, but he instinctively does not blink) until Julie waves a hand in front of Luke’s face and Alex mutters, “maybe it was a mistake initiating Monopoly between the two most competitive people in the friend group.

“Too late, we’re doing it!” says Julie, shoving the coffee table in front of the futon out of her way and plopping down on the floor.

It’s six thirty when Willie curses and throws the dice on the floor. “ _ How  _ did I manage to land in Jail for the  _ sixth  _ time since we started? This game is rigged.”

“Well, we all know Julie is a witch.” says Reggie, pointing at Julie.

“Reggie, I thought we dropped that!” exclaims Alex, trying and failing to hide a laugh. Willie furrows his brow, confused. “I’m sorry, what’s happening?”

Reggie opens his mouth, and then giggles, so Luke takes over. “Basically, when Julie first summoned us, we thought that it was the day after our scheduled show at the Orpheum, and we were all very confused as to why Jules got her stuff in here so fast. Reg noticed there were chairs on the ceiling, and immediately thought that Julie was a witch.”

Willie laughs. “Reggie, you dumb bisexual.” Reggie snaps and shoots finger guns at Willie. “That’s me.”

They play for about half an hour more, until Luke also throws down the dice, claiming that the game was rigged. Alex had won, giggling behind his hands. “I have a very excellent poker face, you guys. It’s the anxiety. I have learned to hide the pain deep inside.” he makes a serious voice on his last sentence, and even though it’s obviously a joke, Willie  _ really  _ wants to kiss him until his brain doesn’t have time to focus on the anxiety.

_ No _ . he thinks.  _ Bad Willie. We don’t fantasize about kissing our best friends who are very cute and who we like a lot. _

Julie, though, notices his face.

She  _ always  _ notices his face, and a smirk grows on her own. “Here’s an idea: a classic sleepover game. Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

The guys erupt into speech, and Julie holds her hands up. “Come on, guys! It’ll be fun! Besides, it’s like a teenager rite-of-passage to play this game, so I don’t want to hear any protests.”

_ Damn you, Julie, and damn myself for telling her about Alex. _

“Look, Luke and I will go first.”

“Say  _ what  _ now?” asks Luke, snapping his head up from the Monopoly board, at which he had been making his angry face. Julie shakes her head, and  _ there’s  _ the I’m-dating-a-fool face. She stands up, grabbing his hand. “Come on, Lover boy.”

She leads him over to a door on the left wall of the studio. “Time us, you guys!”

Willie fumbles out his phone, setting an alarm for seven minutes. “Got it!” 

Luke and Julie disappear into the closet, and then Reggie opens his mouth. “So, what exactly  _ is  _ Seven Minutes in Heaven?”

Alex snaps, pointing at him. “I was just about to ask the same thing. Willie?”

Willie gasps dramatically. “What is  _ wrong _ with you people? Seven Minutes in Heaven is a sacred teenager game in which two individuals are forced into a closet for seven minutes! Like Julie said, it’s basically a teenager rite-of-passage!  _ How  _ have you not heard of it before?”

Reggie shrugs, and Alex says, “yeah, we weren’t exactly invited to a lot of parties in high school. Weirdos who are in a band, however attractive we are, are still weirdos.”

Willie smiles. “Well, tonight, all of that’s going to change.” 

He forgets, momentarily, that he is almost definitely going to be paired with Alex.

A few minutes later, his alarm goes off, and he shouts, “Time!” at the door that Luke and Julie disappeared into. They come out of the closet (ha), looking like the cat who caught the canary, Luke’s hood shoved off his head and his hair mussed up.

“Alex and Willie, you’re next!” announces Luke, smirking at Willie.  _ God damnit, Julie must have told him _ , Willie thinks as he goes red. There’s no point in fighting, though, especially since he just spent two minutes explaining how  _ awesome  _ this game is.

It's seven forty-two when Julie practically shoves him and Alex into the closet (double ha), smirking straight at Willie, who is glaring at Julie. “You boys have fun in there!” he hears Julie call outside.

The closet that they’re in is dark, and actually mostly empty. 

“So… what are we supposed to do now?” comes Alex’s voice, still seeking Willie’s guidance, even in not-ghost matters.

Willie licks his lips. He can barely see Alex, the gold of his necklace glinting in the light shining under the door. “Well, the stereotype is that people who play this game… you know, kiss, in here, but, you know, we can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

Willie is stunned. “What?”

He can feel Alex move a little bit closer to him. “Why can’t I kiss you?” his voice falters a little bit on the “kiss”, but whatever sudden burst of adrenaline that’s spurring this confidence in Alex isn’t going away, because Alex reaches out and takes Willie’s hand.

He can feel Alex moving ever closer, and he’s getting goosebumps on the back of his neck, and he suddenly remembers in great detail the extra two inches Alex has on him.

_ God, please kiss me _ is what Willie thinks.

“Why would you  _ want  _ to kiss me?” is what he says, and here is where Alex falters. “What?”

“Why would you  _ want  _ to kiss  _ me _ ?” he repeats.

“Are you kidding? I’ve wanted to kiss you for  _ months _ . I wanted to kiss you the first time you took your helmet off after running me over, I wanted to kiss you when you took us to the Club for the first time, I wanted to kiss you when we  _ saved  _ you from the Club, and  _ God  _ knows I wanted to kiss you when you walked into the studio earlier, looking fucking  _ beautiful _ .”

Willie’s  _ definitely  _ blushing now, and he stutters out, “I wanted to kiss you, too.”

And apparently, that’s all the incentive Alex needs, because the confidence is back, and Willie can feel Alex’s hands cupping his jaw and Alex’s breath close to his face and then he can feel Alex’s lips on his own.

And this is definitely happening, right?

It’s definitely happening, because Willie kisses him back, and Alex’s hands slide back into his hair, and when they pull apart, their foreheads resting against each other, the first thing Alex says is a muttered “wowza”.

And that’s enough to set Willie off giggling, which sets Alex giggling, and then they’re giggling and kissing and Willie’s so happy.

He pulls Alex closer to him and kisses him again, because  _ hello? Kissing Alex Mercer is apparently a thing he can do now? _

“I guess this is where I ask you to be my boyfriend?” he asks when they come up for air, and Alex buries his face in Willie’s shoulder, but Willie can feel the other boy’s nod, and he giggles because  _ Alexander Mercer is his boyfriend now? _

He doesn’t know who reaches out first, but their hands are interlaced and they’re still giggling and Willie’s cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling so hard.

It’s seven forty when the door is whipped open and Julie is standing there grinning and the guys shout “TIME!” behind her and Alex and Willie are still holding hands and for the benefit of Julie, Willie pulls Alex in for another kiss.

She squeals and yells, “YES! FINALLY! LUKE, YOU OWE ME TWENTY BUCKS AND A BOX OF FROOT LOOPS!” and he hears Luke shout back, “DAMMIT, ALEX, YOU COULDN’T HAVE WAITED, LIKE, ANOTHER THREE HOURS?”

And Reggie is whooping and clapping and Willie and Alex come out of the closet (triple ha) still holding hands and Willie is deliriously happy to be a part of this kind and loving family and he’s deliriously happy to be holding hands with the boy he’s had a crush on for months who for some reason likes his sorry ass back.

He can feel the press of lips against his cheek as they settle back down, and he gives up paying attention to who Reggie is going in with because at this point all he can think about is Alex, with his blond hair and hazel eyes and perfect smile and nervous ticks and he likes him a whole lot.

And if he spends the whole night focusing on Alex, holding his hand, and sneaking kisses with Alex, well that’s his business, isn’t it?

Well. His and his friends’ business, who spend the rest of the night when they aren’t doing sleepover-y things cooing over and “shipping” Alex and Willie.

It’s two twenty eight when he falls asleep in Alex’s arms, with Alex’s fingers carding through his hair.

And he’s forgotten why he was so nervous about coming to this sleepover in the first place.

**Author's Note:**

> first things first: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL MY LOVELY RELATIONSHIP AND SINGLE AND ARO ACE READERS AND SHIPPERS! TAKE TODAY TO LOVE YOURSELF AND THE PEOPLE THAT LOVE YOU!
> 
> we start the scene in reverse: i banged this fic out in about three hours and i am very proud of it and i sincerely hope you liked it
> 
> all of the lines rehearsed: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! AS ALWAYS, KUDOS AND COMMENTS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
> 
> disappear from my mind: come see me on [tumblr](fairylightsandrainydays.tumblr.com) to see more of the inner workings of my fabulous mind!
> 
> fair winds, my lovely, lovely readers!  
> love you, peace out!  
> -rainy <3
> 
> ps here's a discord server if you wanna join: [discorddd](https://discord.gg/AKkmdWRcZY)


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